Now, if only that was the sole difficult encounter I’d have to deal with today.
I glance at the thermostat as I undo the third button of my polo shirt. Did someone set it to seventy Celsius instead of Fahrenheit? The heat in the room is stifling, making it feel like my heart is pumping sludge through my veins.
I swallow down a string of profanities along with some water, all aimed at the gigantic undertaking I’ve just been thrown into. I’d barely had four hours to familiarize myself with the latest on the Brewed campaign before leading this meeting.
The warm welcome back from Caryn, Chloe, and the rest of the Brewed team over Zoom did little to offset the cordial yet ice-cold greeting I got from Connie and Paul. Both are dressed head to toe in black, no doubt to match the color of their souls, and are seated to my right.
My focus intermittently switches from the TV screen to Pietro, Julie, and Kirk, and then over to Paul and Connie. I find myself looking at the last two slightly longer each time, studying their moves and searching for even the slightest tell. A clue on how to play my hand. Yet their poker faces reveal nothing.
“Preproduction commences Thursday night,” I say. Everyone follows along with the schedule on the screen as Paul reaches for a second pastry. The intensity of his focus, each time it lands on me, unsettles me even more. “Tanu, the video director who’s been brought in to shoot the commercial, and her team will begin to redress the Brewed coffee store on Fifty-Ninth and Broadway by Central Park. The reference images can be found on page six of your decks.”
Kirk flicks through the handout in front of him as Connie reaches for her Diet Coke and takes another sip.
“And the snow machine?” Caryn asks from the screen.
I’m paralyzed by the awkward silence. I don’t know the answer—it’s one of the many holes I have yet to fill in for this campaign.
Pietro jumps in, and relief cuts through me.
“The snow machine is due to arrive Friday afternoon. They’ll frost the windows ahead of the first run-through at ten that night.” Pietro nods at the screen then at me.
I nod back and let out a quick smile.Thank you.
God, there’s so much I need to know and so little time to learn it.
“But Alexander won’t be arriving in Manhattan until after midnight,” Paul says, ignoring Pietro and looking straight at me.
A flake from the bottom of his lip falls onto the page in front of him.
“We have a stand-in for Alexander.” My abruptness catches even me off guard. “We won’t need him until the evening of the shoot. There will be an initial test run, so we can set the various markers. We’ll ensure everything from the Christmas tree to thecoffee cups fits each frame perfectly, and we’ll iron out any kinks before bringing Alexander in.”
It was the first thing I’d done when going through the schedule: reducing any contact time with Alexander to a bare minimum. I don’t trust myself enough, or more specifically my heart, to be around him and not to go running back to him. If he’s going to insist that I be on this shoot, then I’ll insist that our contacts be both time-limited and in a public setting.
“We’ll need a copy for approval.” Paul’s voice is detached and clinical.
I take a deep inhale and remind myself that it’s better to respond than react.
“Of course,” I say in a measured tone. I swallow down my pride with my anger.
This is your territory, not Paul’s.
They are the guests here, not you.
“If anyone else would like the footage sent through, let me know and I’ll ensure that you get a copy too.”
“Before you move on,” Paul interrupts, directing his focus to the Brewed team on the screen. “Alexander’s label put forward the idea of him recording a Christmas song for the campaign. We’ve got Electric Lady Studios on hold Friday night, and we can have a rough mix ready to play in the background for Saturday evening’s shoot.”
Connie half smiles, just as I catch the yawn attempting to escape me.
Of course this was always going to become the Alexander show, rather than him being the well-remunerated hired help.
A commotion unfolds on-screen. Chloe, Caryn, and the rest of the Brewed team talk among themselves before Chloe, the point person, leans forward to the speaker on their conference table.
“We’d need to speak with legal. We’ve already secured the sync license to Andy Williams’sIt’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Yearfor the shoot.”
Paul leans forward across the table to the speaker.
“Alexander will happily have the sync fee for the recording rights taken out of his fee, and I’ve already put a call in to the songwriter’s publishers to grant permission to cover the song. If they’ve agreed to using the song in the campaign, then they’ll not mind who’s singing it. As long as they get remunerated for the usage.”
